YOU ABOUT TO LOSE YO JOB

HAMMED SIRLEAF & LASHATÁ GRAYSON

Do you ever receive emails that cause you to erase your response several times before responding because you are Black and you don’t want to be labeled the “angry Black person”? Have you ever experienced a moment during a meeting when you’ve dealt with so many microaggressions that you think about saying something, but you pause to think through how to best navigate the situation? During this pause, you try to be intentional – thinking before you speak – because you know this could go one of two ways; however, neither way is good. You think, “How am I going to address the situation without having to fear losing my damn job?” You begin to think it should get better with each new stage of your career. You begin to have those Issa Rae from “Insecure” talks with yourself and say:

"I just need to put in x amount of time here," "Two years of grad school and I am out of here," or "Wait until x, y, and z to happen."

These are the daily thoughts that ran through my mind as a graduate student and amidst what is currently happening in the world. This feeling hit me even harder because I was job searching. I battled a fear to speak up, and I questioned picking the fight I would risk it all for, sometimes going as far as contemplating “Do I fight for my students? Or do I fight for myself?”

The thoughts and experiences I had in graduate school were riddled with constant racial battle fatigue. Then, I had a moment of realization when I spoke up about how my students felt about the “office culture versus them” relationship. In speaking up, I realized so much about the many life lessons my mother taught me while growing up. It was this moment of addressing issues and getting no answers that I said to myself, “This is really happening, and they do not understand what is happening, nor do they really care.” After that moment, I quickly became aware. I became calculated on everything from volunteer opportunities to presenting at conferences — I would not allow anyone to paint a negative narrative of me or my work ethic. I wrote a proposal for what I wanted my second-year graduate experience to look like. I would not allow others to place me in a box. Let’s face it: I was just a graduate student there for two years. It was okay if I just took everything because it would get better, right?

Wrong. It’s even worse as a new professional. We have to present the best versions of ourselves at every corner. There have been times I was stared down with countless acts of racism, and I felt like I had to grin and bear it. Why? Because I was excited to have a job, I didn’t want to lose it, and I didn’t want to be “blackballed” from the field. Supervisors I worked for —although the Black community and other faculty and staff saw otherwise — said I wasn’t “moving the needle” or “living up to the values of the institution” because I took into consideration the cultural needs of BIPOC students.

Both as a graduate student and new professional, I was told I should “take the L” and deal with it. Why is that the norm? Why do I have to argue with supervisors about why Black Lives Matter and that it does NOT mean other lives don’t? Why do I have to educate staff on why Colin Kaepernick, American civil rights activist and football quarterback, took a knee? Why was I ridiculed for saying I brought some “culture” to the institution? Racism within fraternity/ sorority life is a taboo topic. Not only do I have to advocate for students within NPHC and MGC who are consistently shortchanged by fraternity/ sorority life offices, but I also have to wonder, “Should I advocate for my students? Or myself?”

Stanford University professor and scholar, Amado Padilla, introduced the concept of cultural taxation to describe this burden where additional responsibilities are placed upon non-white faculty because of their ethno-racial backgrounds. These responsibilities include serving on committees for equity and inclusion efforts, advising larger numbers of students, and serving as departmental experts for their particular ethnicracial group. These expectations of non-white faculty are not placed as heavily upon white faculty, which can impede career progress and affect job satisfaction for non-white professionals.

Not only are non-white faculty and staff culturally taxed, but we are also charged to provide high-quality work, advising and support, and nurture not just fraternity/sorority life students but ALL Black students. However, when it comes to a white/IFC/Panhellenic colleague, they are shown so much grace. Grace for lack of experience with CBFO operations. Grace for not being culturally competent. Grace for the opportunity to figure it out. As Black people, where is our grace? It is a shame Black professionals feel and know this to be the norm.

It is a shame we must endure so much just to have a seat at the table, when in most cases, we are turned away or not even heard. If one only knew how scared I was at my previous institution of employment to step into the human resources office to speak my truth, not knowing what lay ahead, possibly even termination.

It is not just enough to understand the toxic systems within this work, though — we must identify and create better opportunities for graduate and new professionals to succeed. Those individuals supervising graduate students must ask themselves, “Am I intentionally preparing them for the field?” How are you preparing Black/CBFO-affiliated graduate students for the systemic racism within the fraternity/sorority life functional area? What opportunities are graduate students given to work with IFC/Panhellenic councils? So many of us apply for positions only to be turned away because all we know is working with CBFOs.

How are you preparing your white/IFC/Panhellenic-affiliated graduate students to work with those whose experiences are different from their own? By “prepare,” I do not solely mean knowing the language for CBFOs; I mean knowing these organizations’ unique “why” for being part of the fraternal moment, their daily struggles, and their identities.

For new professionals, supervisors should create pipelines for all of their employees (especially Black/ CBFO-affiliated ones) to receive direct opportunities to gain the experience they need to succeed in the field. What committees would be helpful for their growth? What projects could help them sharpen their skills? What councils could they work with to gain more exposure and experience? Most importantly, how are you crafting the job description to be equitable, and how are you helping employees draft performance plans to ensure they reach the goals needed to succeed in the field?

We must start practicing what we preach. Many of us have attended a student affairs master’s program or received professional development detailing the student development theories that frame the work we do. Why aren’t we moving past Sanford’s Challenge and Support model and working through the theories that help us understand students’ racial identities and experiences? Let’s face the reality of what is going on and realize it is not enough to have a student involved in an organization. There are many layers to students, and they need to be honored and respected.

For our Black colleagues, now is the time to speak up. Don’t be afraid to walk into the HR office to speak your truth. If we are going to see any change, it has to be up to us. There are plenty of resources on campus to help you tell your story. If there are not, know that you have a network of those who have been there and are currently there to support you. Zora Neale Hurston, a sorority woman, stated “If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.” Do NOT let your pain, your struggle, or your hurt go unheard. Just as much as you matter, your voice matters. Don’t let anyone take that away from you. And trust me, if you’re as good as you know you are, you won’t lose your damn job.

Hammed Sirleaf

Hammed Sirleaf, George Mason University, Assistant Director for Fraternity/ Sorority Life

Hammed Sirleaf, a Black man, serves as the assistant director for fraternity/sorority life at George Mason University. Hammed received his Bachelor of Arts in African American studies with a concentration in sociology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina and his Master of Science in educational leadership studies with an option in college student development from Oklahoma State University. Hammed is passionate about music, community, civic engagement, and uplifting the voices of others. Hammed is also a proud member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

LaShatá Grayson

LaShatá Grayson, Missouri State University, Assistant Director for Student Involvement

LaShatá Grayson, a Black woman, serves as the assistant director for student involvement at Missouri State University and is an organizational growth consultant for Phired Up Productions. LaShatá received a Bachelor of Science in management with a concentration in event management from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and her Master of Science in educational leadership studies from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. LaShatá is passionate about accessibility for students in and outside of the classroom, advocacy, student and program development, and motivating and inspiring women to become physically fit. LaShatá is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.